The porter sits alone.

What better way to start the summer than with a quick camping trip to Burney, CA? It’s a chance to commune with nature, fish, ride the ranger down some dirt roads, and drink some Northern California/West Coast beer that I don’t often get the chance to consume.
The theme of this blog’s post will circle around the idea of winners and losers.
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I tell you, the real winner today is the city of Burney. Every time I come it gets harder to leave.
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Winners:
Nature
We were camping, if you call living in cabins on some private property “camping”, just outside of Burney. Every day involved looking at these views via hiking or ranger riding. 

Winners:
Good Food and Good Beer

Camp food is all sorts of awesome. Of course, it can go horribly wrong, as you will later see, but for the most part, it’s hard to mess up camp food. Make sure you start with bacon, then you cook whatever else you want to eat with the bacon grease, throw some Tapatio on it, and you’ve got magic. This is what one should eat every day. Every. Flippin. Day. (Apologies to the vegans…kinda.)

Stock photo from craftbeer.com

The next biggest winner was Eel River Brewing. They’re the first certified organic brewery in America, which means that it’s super good for you to drink their beer. On this vacation, I enjoyed two classics: Raven’s Eye Imperial Stout and Triple Exultation Old Ale. Both were equally delicious, but I think I had to give the nod to the Old Ale, as it was deliciously malty and it’s balanced hop profile made for a wonderful afternoon riding the Ranger. Don’t worry, I wasn’t driving, but the Triple Exultation DID fit nicely in the cup holder.

The Raven’s Eye tasted like a classic Imperial Stout. Rich, malty, super-dark. I couldn’t taste the alcohol at all, and it generally tasted like a mix of dark fruit and dark chocolate. Yes. Find this at your local store and purchase it.

Hell or High Watermelon from 21st Amendment (not pictured). Another winner! Summertime is generally light beer time, and this watermelon wheat beer did not disappoint. I had quite a few. This is something you should pack with you when going fishing.

Losers:
Bad Camp Food and Bad Beer
Pretty much anything goes when camping, and as previously mentioned, sometimes ideas don’t turn out that great. You’ll see.

I want to explain the last one a bit. I don’t like trashing craft beer. At all. Brewing beer is hard work. Things can go wrong in so many different ways – trust me, I’ve ruined a few batches. Brewers take a chance when they sell their beers out into the world, and in a sense, they send out a part of themselves with each batch. That being said, when you can it and sell it to the masses, you can expect that some will not agree with what you’ve created.
I was not pleased with 21st Amendment’s Barleywine. I thought it was a way too thin/watery, and the hop profile could have been better. Giving it a maltier backbone would certainly be a strong step into improving the beer. Not that I’m an expert, but I do like to drink/brew, so I think that counts for something.

So as to not end on a downer, I wanted to show you our whip for the week. Right, kids still use “whip” to refer to their mode of transportation, don’t they?

This counts as a steel horse, right?

Pretty cool, I know. You might notice the lawn chairs in the back, you know, for when more than three people want to ride at the same time. Here’s a word of advice. Don’t do it. I’ll just leave you with that.

Have a great week!